Mike DeCourcy

Look, it's obvious not every single one of you despises Duke All-American J.J. Redick. Some of you reading this piece happen to be related to him. Blue Devils fans don't need to be convinced he's thoroughly wonderful. And you young ladies, wishing he'd dial up your pink cell phones and ask you to the prom — well, you know how special he is, even if you know more about the dark curls on top of his noggin than the curls he runs around teammates' screens.

But there are many more of you who believe Redick should be the next villain for Jack Bauer to chase down on 24. His crime: terrorizing opponents from 3-point range. A few of you go to games carrying signs that question Redick's sexual preference or disparage his family or appearance. No player in recent college history has faced more road rage. Many of you electronically eviscerate him, writing nasty stuff on blogs or message boards. "Everybody hates J.J. Redick," says sportswriter Jay Mariotti on ESPN's Around The Horn, referring to, of course, everybody but him.

But this really wasn't written for any of you still dismissing Redick after his 35-point performance in No. 2 Duke's 87-83 win over North Carolina on Tuesday.

This is for the moderates, the vast middle ground, the undecideds, the soccer moms, NASCAR dads and all the rest who haven't been able to figure out how a 6-4 senior shooting guard who never had a contract holdout, never publicly excoriated a coach and never once referred to his teammates as "my supporting cast" could inspire such enmity in so many sports fans. The truth is, we're not sure, either.

But we do know several reasons why, after almost four seasons wearing a Duke uniform, Redick deserves the affection of college basketball fans:

1. He's not perfect. Though he is the NCAA's career leader in free-throw percentage (.921), he misses one every so often these days. On average, he has missed one for every game this season, more than in his first two seasons combined. If he continues at that rate, it's possible he might not finish his career No. 1.

"It's been frustrating for me," Redick says. "I think it's mostly mental. I just haven't felt as comfortable on the free throw line."

2. He can take a punch (or a pinch). Scout.com recruiting analyst Dave Telep recalls a highly anticipated game from the 2000-01 prep season in which Redick's Cave Spring High of Roanoke, Va., faced Oak Hill Academy. Redick and Oak Hill star Rashaad Carruth, reputed to be the two best prep shooters, were matched against each other.

"J.J. made his first 3; Carruth made his first. The place was buzzing," Telep says. "So then Redick was coming off a screen, and Carruth goosed him. He did such a good job of goosing him, I don't think anybody saw it. J.J. took it in stride. I don't think you can rattle him. Carruth knew the truth -- that was the only way to slow him down."

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3. He can become the ACC's career scoring leader. Think about that. We're talking the Atlantic Coast Conference. This is the league of Michael Jordan, Phil Ford, Tim Duncan, Christian Laettner. Even with a below-average performance, Redick, who exited the UNC game with 2,429 career points, could stand above all of them and record holder Dickie Hemric of Wake Forest (2,587).

"I'd be lying if I said it hadn't entered my mind," Redick says. "It's there, but it's not really on my radar. Now, if I get closer and people start talking about it more, it's going to be pretty hard to ignore."

4. He's loyal. After Redick averaged 21.8 points and became a first-team All-American as a junior, one Division I coach was savagely critical of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski for not encouraging Redick to enter the draft. The theory: He might not have been a 2005 lottery pick, but his appeal never would be greater.

Redick's father, Ken, says the only time he saw J.J. waver regarding his decision to stay at Duke was after he traveled to Los Angeles for the Wooden Award ceremony last year and had lunch with draft-bound North Carolina star Sean May, among others.

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"He admitted that it hit him then, for about a week or two," Ken Redick says. "But I like what he said: 'I owe it to Duke. Duke's been really good to me.' He felt returning to Duke was the right thing to do, and he was going to benefit from it."

5. He comes from a great family. Two older sisters played basketball at Campbell, and a younger brother will play football at Marshall next fall.

6. He's not on steroids. You can see that, right? J.J. carries only 190 pounds on his 6-4 frame. While other players fixate on adding bulk, Redick works to stay lean. His weightlifting regimen involves lightweights and a high number of repetitions. He has worked intently to improve his stamina. And the greatest secret to his physical improvement might be the Pilates class he sneaks in each week.

7. He's not perfect. Redick wasn't always so committed to extraordinary conditioning. He once was more committed to his social life. "I think a lot of college students, when they go through those first two years, they're trying to figure out who they are and who they're going to be," Redick says. "And I struggled with that for a while."

Raised in what he calls "a conservative family," he says he got to college and saw things he'd never seen. He did not avert his eyes. "Maybe if you've never partied before and you go to a party on Saturday night and have fun — in your eyes — well there's another party on Sunday night. Should I go to that, too? You just kind of get caught up in what everybody else is doing."

Redick's family was aware — and concerned. His teammates, too. "It was kind of like, 'Man, what are you doing? We've got a game tomorrow,' " says forward Lee Melchionni, also a senior. "It's sort of hard being in that place, but you needed to say that for the good of our team." Eventually, Redick figured it out for himself.

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"At some point, you wake up one day and think, 'I'm not really headed down the road I want to head down.' And I had that day." That was in mid-May 2004. He went to see Krzyzewski and spoke with him about redirecting his life. Ten months later, Redick was ACC Player of the Year.

8. He has made himself into a lottery pick. The basketball world isn't always kind to great college players with limited NBA futures. No need to worry about that with Redick, who has grown from a shooter into a scorer — able not only to hit from long range but to drive the ball to the goal, finish with either hand and hit pull-up jumpers.

"I was impressed with his physical conditioning," says Texas coach Rick Barnes, whose team allowed Redick a career-high 41 points in December. "He's like a mountain stream of running water. It goes up against one rock and turns another way — it never stops flowing."

With assistant coach Chris Collins, Redick studied players such as Reggie Miller and Richard Hamilton, guys known for running defenders through an armada of screens. "Those guys never wear down as the game goes on," Collins says. Redick has averaged 36.8 minutes per game over the past two seasons.

"The last two years, I've been the guy in our office lowest on him," says one NBA Eastern Conference scout. "I thought he would have a lot of difficulty with the speed of the game, and I didn't know who he would guard.

"But he's kind of crawled up my list. Now, I think he's going to get picked in the lottery. He's one of those guys you put on a list that you're scared to pass up on because he could be great."